He's okay against some of the slower teams. His judgement and positional play can compensate for tiring legs. He never was the fastest anyway. Trouble is, spotting the likes of Hyppia isn't easy.
Carra was always a tad too slow. And for my money, was definitely done 2 seasons ago.
Do you watch England games? Stevie still has it when playing for England.
I feel the opposite, ASI. He has been shockingly bad for england in games of any note.
What ever happened to the new manager bounce? We never saw it which suggests he can't inspire players.
I suspect it goes much deeper than just Roy.
We all know defence is a major problem area.
But midfield is also a major issue.
There are two types of midfielder which gave us strength these past 10 years. One is the type that can protect the back four - who sits in front of them. Didi Hamann and then the argie lad did that well. The other key midfielder is the one who has a wide range of passing ability. Both key positions are of a specialist nature and require good positional and tactical awareness. Gerrard fits neither.
Having lost the Monster and Alonso, our midfield is shot. We have now neither a top defensive midfielder, nor a pass-master.
Allied to the problems in defence, this is why we have been struggling.
With a malfunctioning offence, we are averaging less than a goal per game........simply not good enough.